


Socks

by Vulcan_Princess



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Episode Tag, Flashback, Post-Canon, Socks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-03
Updated: 2012-04-03
Packaged: 2017-11-02 23:29:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/374576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulcan_Princess/pseuds/Vulcan_Princess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a little coda to Sleeping In Light that came to me as I was hanging my laundry on the clothesline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Socks

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in July 2006 at fanfiction.net.

Delenn sat alone, dressed in her Sunday best, watching the sun set. She had been sitting there all day, ever since she watched the sun rise with John that morning. Their last sunrise together.

A single tear rolled down her face, followed by another, and another. Soon, the floodgates were opened, and she sobbed freely. Ivanova walked out to the patio, dressed in her Ranger robes. She saw Delenn weeping and walked over to her to offer comfort.

The two women entered the house, and Delenn said, "He's gone."

Ivanova merely nodded, not trusting her ability to speak at the moment. They parted ways, and Delenn went to her bathroom to splash some water on her face. When she walked in, she recalled a conversation she and John had on their first morning as a married couple.

_"John, why are there wet socks hanging in the shower?"_

_"I just washed them."_

_"Don't you use the thermo unit?"_

_"For everything else, yes. I guess it's kind of a tradition. See, when I first joined Earthforce I was assigned to the 54th North American Unit, and the Sergeant of our squadron, we used to call him 'Sergeant Slaughter', was the toughest, meanest DI we ever saw. And he used to wash his own socks every morning. He told us: 'I'm gonna live forever, you wanna know why? 'Cause I never leave the barracks unless I know I've got something to do when I get back. The only kind of man that gets killed is a man who is done doin' whatever it is he's doin'. And I know I'm gonna come back alive, 'cause I have socks to wash. Any you maggots have a problem with that?'"_

_"I assume you said no."_

_"Oh, loud and clear. The next morning we came up with this big ceremony. We all took a vow that for as long as we were in uniform we'd wash our own socks every morning. You know, that was the first time I saw old Sergeant Slaughter actually smile."_

Delenn came out of her reverie and her eyes fell on the clothesline. It was empty.


End file.
